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1^4 



KENTUCKY HISTORICAL SERIES 
» EDITED BY 

MRS. JENNIE C. MORTON 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors 



By 



JOHN WILSON TOWNSEND 

Author of 



"Richard Hickman Menefee" 
"Kentuckians in History and Literature" 
'The Life of James Francis Leonard" Etc 




The Kentucky State Historical Society 
Frankfort, Kentucky 



1910 



Editor's Introduction 

HIS, THE FIRST volume of the Kentucky 

O Historical Series — a series just inaugur- 
ated by the Kentucky State Historical 
Society — is a study of Kentucky initiative 
in the United States as exemplified in these more 
than one hundred sons of our Commonwealth who 
have served as Governors of other States and 
territories. 

Mr. Townsend has realized that the list is the 
important thing, and he has made an earnest effort 
to have it complete. For this reason he has been 
content with sketches in miniature of each executive, 
knowing that, had he attempted anything like an 
adequate notice of each man, his paper would have 
become an octavo. 

The Editor of this series believes that ''Kentucky: 
Mother of Governors" is a creditable piece of work ; 
something new under the Kentucky history sun ; and 
well suited to be the first in a series of books that 
the Kentucky State Historical Society will issue 
from time to time. 

Mrs. Jennie C. Morton 

The Kentucky State Historical Society 
Frankfort, Kentucky 



Author's Prefatory Note 

HIS PAPER IS the result of a summer 

O day's browsing in a public library. The 
writer was bent on being amused, but 
he was amazed to find that so many 
Kentuckians had served as governors of other states 
and territories. This amazement grew into genuine 
interest and, for more than two years, at different 
times, the writer developed the theme until he had 
it in some sort of shape for a paper. 

Though only completed in its present form, 
"Kentucky: Mother of Governors" has been read 
before the Filson Club, of Louisville, and the Ohio 
Valley Historical Association; and it was published 
some months ago in The Register, and in the third 
annual report of the Ohio Valley Historical Associa- 
tion. This list may not even now be complete, but, 
if it is not, the writer here abandons the task as 
unfinishable — for him. 

John Wilson Tov/nsend 

The Kentucky State Historical Society 
Frankfort, Kentucky 
26 September, 1910 



To 

L. M. O. o{ Kentucky 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors 

^ VIRGINIA, THE MOTHER of Presidents; 

^ w Kentucky, the mother of Governors ! And 

^Sf it is in a larger, truer sense that Kentucky 

is the mother of Governors, than it is that 

Virginia is the mother of Presidents. It has been 

many years since the Old Dominion furnished a 

President — and she has furnished but five in all — 

while the Bluegrass State has been making governors 

for her sister States since the Republic was founded. 

Indeed, the time has come for Virginia to relinquish 

her famous title to her sister, Ohio, the mother of 

eight presidents. 

To be exact, Kentucky has given one hundred 
and five executives to twenty-six Commonwealths or 
territories. This count, however, regards a Ken- 
tuckian and a term of ofRce as synonymous; but it 
does not include Justice John Boyle, who declined 
the governship of Illinois territory in 1809; nor 
William O. Butler, who refused to govern the 
territory of Nebraska in 1855; nor James Birney, 
son of the great James Gillespie Birney, who was 
Lieutenant-Governor of Michigan in 1860; nor 
Governor Moses Wisner, of Michigan, who died in 
Kentucky; nor does it include the brilliant Jesse D. 
Bright, Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana in 1841, and 
a citizen of Kentucky for many years. 

By a Kentuckian the present writer means a 
native son; an adopted son who has lived at least 

15 



Kcniuckij: Mother of Governors. 

ten years in Kentucky; one who has lived but a few 
years in this State, a sojourner; and one who was 
educated in whole or in part in Kentucky, the college 
claim. Under these four heads — although, perhaps, 
admitting that the first two are the only legitimate 
claims a State can hold upon a man or woman, and 
that the last two are merely interesting — the 
theme will be considered. The Kentuckians who 
were to the manor born will be discussed first, 
beginning with Missouri, because it is generally 
known that more sons of Kentucky have occupied 
the gubernatorial chair of that State than of any 
other. 



l6 



Missouri 

Lilburn W. Boggs was born in Kentucky in 1798. 
He saw much real service in the War of 1812; and 
he settled in Missouri in 1816. Boggs prepared him- 
self for the governorship by serving several terms in 
the Missouri Legislature. He was elected Governor 
in 1836, and his administration is noted for the vigor 
with which he put down the Mormon outbreaks. 
Several years before his death, Governor Boggs 
removed to California, where he died in 1861. 

The next Kentuckian to win the governorship 
was Thomas Reynolds, who was born in Bracken 
county, Kentucky, March 12, 1796. He studied law 
and, at the age of twenty-one years, he emigrated to 
Ilhnois. In 1828 he removed to Missouri, where he 
was soon sent to the Legislature. In 1840 Reynolds 
was elected Governor, and a few months before the 
expiration of his term, he committed suicide. 

The eighth Governor of Missouri was John C. 
Edwards, a Kentuckian-born. Edwards was edu- 
cated in Tennessee and he then emigrated to 
Missouri. In 1845, at the age of thirty-nine years, 
he was elected Governor — one of the youngest men 
who ever held the office in Missouri. At the conclu- 
sion of his term. Governor Edwards removed to 
California, in which State he died in 1888. 

Claiborne F. Jackson was born in Fleming 
county, Kentucky, in 1807, and removed to Missouri 
at the age of twenty-five years and enlisted for ser- 
vice in the Black Hawk War. He was elected Gov- 

17 



Keiitiicl-i/: BlotJicr of Governors. 

ernor of the State in 1860. He was a Southern 
s^Tnpathizer and he allowed his enemies to drive him 
from the State Capitol, and the Legislature to depose 
him from his office. Governor Jackson died at Little 
Rock, Ark., late in the year 1861. 

Missouri's seventeenth Governor, Benjamin Gratz 
Brown, was born in Lexington, Ky., May 28, 1826. 
He was graduated from Transylvania and Yale 
Universities. In 1851 Brown emigrated to Missouri, 
where he spent the subsequent twenty years in 
journalism, law, and duelling. In 1863 he was 
elected to the United States Senate. Brown served 
four years in the Senate and, in 1870, he was elected 
Governor of Missouri. Governor Brown was Horace 
Greeley's running mate for the Presidency in 1872, 
and after his defeat he resumed the practice of law 
in St. Louis, in which city he died in 1885. He was 
the most interesting man who has ever governed 
Missouri, we should say. 

Silas Woodson, a native of Knox county, Ken- 
tucky, was Brown's successor in the executive chair 
of Missouri. Woodson was a farmer's boy, attending 
the county schools of his day, and finishing his 
education with a desultory study of the law. At 
the age of twenty-one, he was admitted to the bar. 
The few years following he spent in the Kentucky 
Legislature and as a circuit attorney. In 1849 he 
was a delegate to the third Kentucky Constitutional 
Convention. A few years later, Woodson removed 
to Missouri and, in 1872, he was elected Governor. 
He died in St. Joseph, Mo., October 9, 1896. 

18 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

Charles H. Hardin, the nineteenth Governor of 
Missouri, was born in Trimble county, Kentucky, in 
1820. His father was preparing to quit this State 
at the time of the son's birth, so Charles celebrated 
his first birthday in Missouri. He began the practice 
of law at Fulton, Mo., in 1843. Thirty years later — 
then a man of wealth — he handsomely endowed 
Hardin Female College at Fulton. In 1874 Hardin 
was elected Governor of Missouri. 

Thomas T. Crittenden was born in Shelby county, 
Kentucky, in 1832, and he was graduated at Centre 
College, Danville, in the famous class of '55. He 
studied law at Frankfort under his celebrated uncle, 
John J. Crittenden, and he then went to Missouri 
to practice. In 1880 Crittenden was elected 
Governor of Missouri. He successfully eradicated 
the Jesse James gang during his administration. 
At the expiration of his term of ofRce, he resumed 
the practice of law in Kansas City. Governor 
Crittenden died only a few months ago. 

The twenty-third Governor of Missouri, David 
R. Francis, first saw the light in Richmond, Ky., 
October 1, 1850. At the age of sixteen years, Francis 
went to St. Louis. After having finished his educa- 
tion, he engaged in the commission business. He 
was elected mayor of St. Louis in 1885 and, four 
years later, began his term as Governor. Governor 
Francis was Secretary of the Interior in Cleveland's 
second Cabinet and, in 1904, he served as president 
of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Governor 



19 



Keniuckij: Mother of Govirnors. 

Francis is one of the most representative citizens in 
the Mississippi Valley. 

Governor Francis' successor, William J. Stone, 
was also born in Richmond, Ky., in 1848. At the 
age of fifteen years, he removed to Columbia, Mo., 
and completed his education at the State University 
there. In 1892 Stone was elected Governor of 
Missouri, and six years ago he was sent to the 
United States Senate to succeed that other distin- 
guished son of Kentucky, George G. Vest. 

Here we have ten native Kentuckians who have 
been governors of Missouri. 



20 



Ill 



inois 



On February 3, 1809, Illinois territory was 
organized and, twenty days later. President Madison 
appointed Nathaniel Pope secretary of the territory. 
Pope was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1784, and he 
was graduated from Transylvania University in 
1806. He shortly afterward settled as a lawyer in 
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri — a little town that also 
attracted Henry Dodge, afterward Governor of 
Wisconsin, and George W. Jones, afterward United 
States Senator from Iowa. On April 25, 1809, Pope 
took the oath of office as secretary of Illinois terri- 
tory and, as Governor-elect Edwards did not reach 
the Capitol until June 11, Secretary Pope was acting 
Governor from April 25 to June 11— nearly seven 
weeks. Pope was the territory's delegate in the 
Fourteenth and Fifteen Congresses, and from 1818 
until his death at St. Louis, in 1850, he was United 
States Judge for the District of Illinois. 

The fifth Governor of Illinois, Joseph Duncan, 
was born at Paris, Ky., in 1789. Duncan served 
gallantly in the War of 1812, and in 1818 he removed 
to Illinois. In 1834 he was elected Governor of the 
State. At the conclusion of his term. Governor 
Duncan returned to Jacksonville, 111., where he spent 
the remainder of his life. 

Governor Duncan's successor, Thomas Carlin, 
was born near Frankfort, Ky., in 1789— the same 
year that gave his predecessor birth. When Carlin 
was eleven years of age, his family removed to 



21 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

Missouri and later to Illinois. He served his adopted 
State as Governor, and died in 1852. 

The eleventh Governor of Illinois was a Ken- 
tuckian to the core, Richard Yates, born at Warsaw, 
Ky., January 18, 1818. Yates received part of his 
academic training at Georgetown College, George- 
town, Ky., and then graduated in law at Transyl- 
vania. He removed to Illinois to practice. In 1858 
Yates took the stump for Lincoln against Douglas 
for the Presidency. He was elected Governor of 
the State two years later and he is famous as the 
"War Governor" of Illinois. At the close of his term 
Governor Yates resumed the practice of law. He 
died in St. Louis, November 27, 1873. Governor 
Yates' son, Richard, was the twenty-fourth Governor 
of Illinois. 

Illinois' twelfth, fourteenth and eighteenth 
Governor was one man, and a Kentuckian, Richard 
J. Oglesby. He was born in Oldham county, Ken- 
tucky, July 25, 1824. Left an orphan at eight years 
of age, he went to Illinois in 1835, where he attended 
school for a short time. Oglesby studied law and 
was admitted to the bar. At the close of the Mexican 
War — in which he took a splendid part — he attended 
a law school in Louisville for a year and then went 
to California as a forty-niner. Oglesby rose to the 
rank of general in the Civil War. A thrilling, timely 
speech made him the logical candidate for Governor 
of Illinois in 1864, and he was elected by a magnifi- 
cent majority. His second term as Governor was 
interrupted by his election to the United States 

22 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

Senate. In 1884 he was for the third time elected 
Governor. Governor ("Uncle Dick") Oglesby died 
at Elkhart, 111., April 24, 1899. 

John M. Palmer, thirteenth Governor of Illinois, 
was born in Scott county, Ky., in 1817. When he 
was fifteen years old, his father removed to Illinois. 
Palmer was unable to complete his college course 
because of the lack of funds, but he studied at home 
and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He was a 
brave soldier during the Civil War, and in 1868 he 
was elected Governor of Illinois, succeeding Oglesby. 
He had the great Chicago fire of 1871 to handle 
during his administration. In 1891 Palmer was 
sent to the United States Senate and, five years later, 
he made the race for the Presidency on the gold 
Democrat ticket. His running mate was the old 
Kentucky Governor, General S. B. Buckner. Of 
course, they were overwhelmingly beaten. Governor 
Palmer died at Springfield, 111., September 25, 1900. 
Some eight years ago his autobiography appeared. 

Shelby M. Cullom, sixteenth and seventeenth 
Governor of Illinois, was born in Wayne county, 
Kentucky, in 1829. When a boy of tender years, he 
removed to Tazewell county, Illinois. Cullom studied 
law and he was early elected to the State Legislature. 
In 1864 he was elected to Congress, and he has been 
a member of that body ever since, except the six 
years he served as Governor (1876-1882), and a 
short time he was engaged in the banking business. 
Senator Cullom's solid, practical mind appeals to all 
men. 

23 



Indiana 

Among the States that have been governed by 
Kentuckians, in point of numbers, Indiana ranks 
third. The fourth State Governor of Indiana was 
James B. Ray, a native of Jefferson county, Ken- 
tucky. Ray studied law and was admitted to the 
Cincinnati bar. He later removed to Indiana, where 
he was elected Governor in 1826. Governor Ray 
made an able executive, being especially interested 
in the internal improvements of the State. He died 
in Cincinnati in 1848. 

Henry Smith Lane, Indiana's thirteenth Gov- 
ernor, was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky, 
in 1811. He was educated in his native county and, 
in 1834, he removed to Indiana. Lane was elected 
Governor in 1860, but he had served only four days 
when he was sent to the United States Senate. 
Senator Lane died in Crawfordsville, Ind., June 18, 
1881. 

The twenty-third Governor of Indiana, Claude 
Matthews, was a native of Bath county, Kentucky, 
born in 1845. A few years after the death of his 
mother, his father married the second time and 
removed his family to Maysville, Ky. Matthews 
prepared for college and entered old Centre at Dan- 
ville, graduating in 1867. In the following year he 
went to Indiana. Matthews was elected Governor 
in 1892. He was a Free Silver Democrat and a 
prominent candidate for the presidential nomina- 
tion in 1896. But Mr. Bryan's glittering "cross of 

24 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

gold" so dazzled the delegates' eyes, and his piercing 
"crown of thorns" so punctured all previous booms, 
that the gifted Kentuckian was as one with Richard 
Parks Bland, better known as ''Silver Dick," and a 
Kentuckian-born. Governor Matthews died in In- 
dianapolis, August 28, 1898 — the last Kentuckian to 
govern the Hoosier State. 



25 



Ohio 

One of Ohio's greatest men was Thomas Corwin, 
a native of Paris, Ky., born in 1794. When "Tom," 
as he always was called, was but four years of age, 
his father removed to Ohio, where the son studied 
law and was admitted to the bar. In 1830 Corwin 
was sent to Congress, where his eloquence and wit 
won him a national reputation. He served in the 
House for ten years, when he was elected Governor 
of Ohio by a large majority. In 1844 Corwin was 
elected to the United States Senate, and six years 
later President Fillmore made him his Secretary of 
the Treasury. He served another term in Congress 
before his death, which occurred at Washington, 
December 18, 1865. 

Ohio's thirty-fifth Governor, Richard Moore 
Bishop, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, in 
1812. At the age of thirty-six. Bishop went to 
Cincinnati to enter the grocery business. In 1859 
he was elected mayor of Cincinnati and, in 1877, he 
was chosen Governor of the State. Governor Bishop 
was a prominent member of the Church of the Dis- 
ciples for many years. He died in 1893. 



26 



Kentuckians— Born in Other States 

Benjamin J. Franklin, who was appointed Gov- 
ernor of Arizona during the second administration 
of President Cleveland, was born in Germantown, 
Ky., in 1839. His early education was gained in the 
public schools of Kentucky, after which he entered 
Bethany College in West Virginia. Governor 
Franklin taught school in his early manhood ana 
later practiced law in Minnesota and Kansas. Dur- 
ing President Cleveland's first administration, he 
was selected for diplomatic service in China and at 
the close of this service he went to Arizona and 
settled in Phoenix, shortly before his appointment 
as Governor. Franklin was Governor of the terri- 
tory from 1896 to 1897. He died in Phoenix irt 
1898 and is buried in Rosedale Cemetery. Plis 
official report to the Secretary of the Interior, issued 
in 1896, contains much valuable matter relating to 
the history and conditions of Arizona. 

Arkansas territory was formed in 1819, and 
General James Miller, a New Hampshire hero of the 
War of 1812, was appointed as the first territorial 
Governor. Robert Crittenden, of Logan county, 
Kentucky, was made secretary and acting Governor 
until General Miller reached the capitol, a village 
called Arkansas Post, established by John Law, of 
Mississippi bubble fame. Acting Governor Critten- 
den convened the first provisional Legislature, by 
proclamation of July 4, 1819, and it was in session 
for seven days, or from July 28 to August 3. General 

27 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

Miller did not reach the Post until Christmas, 1819, 
so Crittenden served as Governor for about a year. 
Late in the year 1820, the capitol was moved to 
Little Rock. 

The sixth Governor of Arkansas was Henry M. 
Rector, who was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1816. 
He was educated by his mother and in the Louisville 
schools. Rector removed to Arkansas when a young 
man and, in 1860, he was elected Governor. He had 
served but two years when the State Supreme Court 
declared his seat vacant. Governor Rector died some 
years ago. 

Another native of Louisville, Thomas J. Churchill, 
w^as the thirteenth Governor of Arkansas. He was 
educated in Louisville and served in a Kentucky 
regiment during the Mexican War and he also saw 
much service in the Kentucky campaign in the Civil 
War. In 1880 Churchill was elected Governor of 
Arkansas. 

Only one Kentuckian has ever been elected Gov- 
ernor of Colorado: John Long Routt, a native of 
Eddyville, Ky., born in 1826. Routt's father died 
when he was very small, and when he was ten years 
old his mother removed to Illinois, where the son 
was educated and taught a trade. He served under 
General Grant gallantly in the Civil War and Presi- 
dent Grant appointed him Governor of Colorado 
territory in 18f75. Governor Routt prepared the 
territory for statehood, which was granted, in 1876, 
and the people immediately chose him as the first 
State Governor. In 1883 Governor Routt was elected 

28 



Kentuckij: Mother of Govcrnws. 

mayor of Denver, and seven years later he was again 
chosen Governor. He now resides in Denver. 

David S. Walker, seventh State Governor of 
Florida, was a native of Logan county, Kentucky. 
He was educated in a Kentucky private school and 
then removed to Florida. Walker was elected Gov- 
ernor in 1865, and he served three years. He died 
in Tallahassee, Fla., July 20, 1891. 

The fifth State Governor of Idaho was Frank 
W. Hunt, born at Newport, Ky., in 1861. He was 
educated in the Newport schools and then went to 
Idaho in 1888. Hunt served in the Spanish- 
American War and, at its close, he entered politics. 
In the fall of 1900 he was elected Governor of Idaho 
and served until January, 1903. Governor Hunt 
was an able executive, always urging his people to 
take deep interest in agriculture and commerce. He 
died at his home in Boise in 1906. 

The twenty-third and twenty-fourth Governor 
of Kansas, Edward W. Hoch, was born in Danville, 
Ky., in 1849. Hoch was educated at Centre College. 
He then spent three years as a reporter on a Lex- 
ington newspaper, when he resigned and went to 
Kansas to engage in journalism. He was elected 
Governor of Kansas on the Republican ticket in 1905 
and re-elected in 1907. Governor Hoch's home is 
in Topeka, Kansas. 

The thirteenth Governor of Louisiana, Robert C. 
Wickliffe, was born in Bardstown, Ky., in 1820. He 
graduated at Centre College, Danville, at the age 
of twenty years. Wickliffe's poor health drove him 

29 



Kentucky: Mot Jar of Governors. 

to Louisiana shortly after his graduation. In 1856 
he was elected Governor of the State. Governor 
Wickliffe was an able lawyer, which aided him 
greatly in his work as Governor. He died at 
Shelbyville, Ky., April 18, 1895. He was an uncle 
of former Governor J. C. W. Beckham, of Kentucky. 

Joshua Baker, Louisiana's military Governor 
from 1867 to 1868, was a Kentuckian-born. Baker 
was a small boy when his family removed to 
Louisiana. He studied law in that State and then 
returned to Kentucky to practice his profession. 
Governor Baker died in Connecticut in 1886. 

Willis A. Gorman, the second territorial Governor 
of Minnesota, was born near Flemingsburg, Ky., in 
1814. He spent much of his early life in Indiana. 
Gorman served as Governor of Minnesota (1853- 
1857). He fought gallantly in the Civil War. He 
died at St. Paul, Minn., May 20, 1876. 

Green Clay Smith, Montana's second territorial 
Governor, was a native of Richmond, Ky., born in 
1832. He was graduated at Transylvania University 
and began the practice of law in Covington, Ky. He 
was early in the Kentucky Legislature. In 1866 
President Johnson appointed Smith Governor of 
Montana territory, and he did much to prepare the 
territory for statehood. About 1870 Governor Smith 
became a minister of the Baptist Church. He died 
in Washington, D. C, June 30, 1893. 

The seventh territorial Governor of Montana was 
Samuel T. Hauser, a native of Falmouth, Ky. He 
was educated in Falmouth and soon emigrated to 

30 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

Missouri and then to Montana. Hauser erected the 
first silver mill ever in Montana. President Cleve- 
land appointed him Governor of the territory in 1885 
and he served for two years. 

Governor Hauser's successor was an old Ken- 
tucky Governor, Preston H. Leslie, born in Wayne 
county, Kentucky, in 1819. In 1871 Leslie defeated 
Mr. Justice John M. Harlan, now of the United 
States Supreme Court, for Governor of Kentucky. 
At the close of his term, he practiced law for a few 
years and then went to Montana. Leslie, like Hauser, 
served as Governor of Montana but two years 
(1887-1889). In 1894 President Cleveland appointed 
Leslie United States District Attorney for Montana. 
He died in Helena, Montana, in 1907. 

Montana's third State Governor, Robert B. Smith, 
was born in Hickman county, Kentucky, in 1854. 
He was educated in the Kentucky schools, taught in 
this State and he was admitted to the Mayfield, Ky., 
bar. In 1882 Smith moved to Montana. He served 
for four years as United States District Attorney 
for Montana and was elected Governor in 1896 on 
the Fusion ticket. 

The present Governor of Montana, Edward L. 
Norris, was born and reared in Cumberland county, 
Kentucky. Some twenty years ago he went West, 
locating in Montana. He was a member of the State 
Senate and afterwards Lieutenant-Governor. When 
Governor Toole resigned, Norris became acting 
Governor. In the autumn of 1908, he was elected 
Governor on the Democratic ticket. Governor 

31 



Kentttcky: Mother of Governors. 

Norris, accompanied by members of his staff, was 
in Kentucky several months ago re-visiting the 
scenes of his youth. He is noted as a lawyer. 

The fifth territorial Governor of Nebraska, 
William A. Richardson, was born near Lexington, 
Ky., in 1811, and died in Quincy, 111., in 1875. He 
was educated at Transylvania University, studied 
law, and then removed to Illinois. He subsequently 
served in the Illinois Legislature and in the Mexican 
War. He was sent to Congress in 1846, and in 1858 
was appointed territorial Governor of Nebraska and 
served several months. In 1863 he was elected to 
the United States Senate to fill Stephen A. Douglas' 
unexpired term. 

The last territorial Governor of Nebraska was 
Alvin Saunders, born in Fleming county, Ky., July 
12, 1817. Saunders left Kentucky at the age of 
twelve years for Illinois. From 1861 to 1867, he 
served Nebraska as Governor. He was much loved 
by the people of Nebraska and he was later sent to 
the lower house of Congress. Governor Saunders 
died in Omaha, Neb., in 1899. 

Joseph Clay Styles Blackburn was born in Wood- 
ford county, Kentucky, October 1, 1838. He gradu- 
ated from Centre College in the class of '57. In the 
following year he began the practice of law in 
Chicago. After the war between the States, in which 
he served, he resumed the practice of his profession 
in Versailles, Ky. In 1870 Blackburn began his 
political career as a member of the Kentucky Legis- 
lature. In 1875 he went to Congress and served 

32 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

in both branches, with the exception of a short 
period, until March, 1907. On April 1, 1907, Presi- 
dent Roosevelt appointed him a member of the 
Isthmian Canal Commission, in charge of the De- 
partment of Civil Administration in the Canal Zone, 
and it was Governor Blackburn for the next three 
years. 

Recently President Taft appointed Maurice Hud- 
son Thatcher, formerly State Inspector and Exam- 
iner, and a poet of no mean ability, as Blackburn's 
successor. Governor Thatcher was born in Butler 
county, Kentucky, a man of the people who has done 
things for years. 

The twenty-fourth Governor of Tennessee was 
Albert S. Marks, who was born near Owensboro, 
Ky., October 16, 1836. At the age of nineteen years, 
Marks went to Tennessee and began the study of 
law. He served in the Civil War and, in 1878, he 
was elected Governor of Tennessee. Governor 
Marks died in Nashville, Tenn., November 4, 1891. 

Governor Marks' successor, Alvin Hawkins, was 
a native of Bath county, Kentucky. When he was 
only five years old, his family removed to Tennessee, 
where he was educated and taught a trade. He later 
taught school and read law. Hawkins held several 
fine offices before he was elected Governor of the 
State in 1880. Governor Hawkins died in 1905. 

Another Kentuckian who governed the Volunteer 
State was Benton McMillan, a native of Monroe 
county, Kentucky, born in 1845. McMillan was 
educated at Kentucky University, now rechristened 
with its famous name, Transylvania. He began the 

33 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

practice of law in Tennessee in 1871. For twenty 
years McMillan represented his district in Congress. 
In 1899 he was elected Governor and re-elected in 
1901. Governor McMillan's home is Carthage, Tenn. 

The first provisional, American Governor of 
Texas was Henry Smith, who was born in Kentucky 
in 1784. Smith spent his youth in this State and 
then emigrated to Missouri. From Missouri he went 
to Texas, being elected Governor in 1835. In the 
fall of the next year, he declined the presidency of 
the republic of Texas, and Sam Houston was elected, 
with Governor Smith as Secretary of the Treasury. 
Governor Smith was a forty-niner to California and 
he died in Los Angeles, March 4, 1851. 

John Ireland, a native of Hart county, Kentucky, 
was the seventeenth Governor of Texas. At the age 
of twenty years, he served as deputy sheriff of Hart 
county. He shortly afterwards began the study of 
law and was admitted to the bar of Munfordsville, 
Ky. In 1853 Ireland settled in Texas, and, after 
having served on the State Supreme Court, he was 
elected Governor in 1882; and the people approved 
his administration by re-electing him. Governor 
Ireland died in San Antonio, March 5, 1896. 

Two Kentuckians have been Governors of Utah: 
Eli H. Murray and Caleb W. West. Murray was 
born in Breckinridge county, Kentucky, September 
12, 1844. He fought in the Union Army in Ken- 
tucky during the Civil War. In 1866 he was ap- 
pointed United States Marshal for Kentucky and 
he held this office for ten years, when he became 

34 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

manager of the Louisville Commercial. President 
Hays appointed Murray Governor of Utah in 1880, 
and President Arthur re-appointed him, but he re- 
signed in 1886 during the first Cleveland administra- 
tion. Governor Murray vigorously opposed polyg- 
amy and the demands of the Mormon Church. He 
died in 1896. 

West also was born in 1844, in Cynthiana, Ky. 
He was educated in his native town and practiced 
law there for many years. He was appointed Gov- 
ernor of Utah territory in 1886, succeeding Murray, 
tind he was re-appointed seven years later, serving 
until the State Government was organized, June 6, 
1896. The remainder of his life was spent as a 
special agent for the United States Treasury. Gov- 
ernor West died in San Francisco in January, 1909, 
and his remains were brought to Kentucky for inter- 
ment. 

While nine Virginians have been Governors of 
Kentucky, only one Kentuckian has been Governor 
of the Old Dominion — John Floyd. He was born 
in Jefferson county, Kentucky, and graduated in 
medicine at the University of Pennsylvania when 
twenty-three years of age. He settled in Mont- 
gomery county, Virginia, to practice his profession, 
but he was soon drawn into politics, being elected 
Governor in 1830. Throughout his administration, 
he opposed the prevalent doctrine of nullification. 
In 1832 South Carolina voted for Governor Floyd 
for President. He died at Sweet Springs, Va., 
August 15, 1837. 

35 



The Adopted Sons 



This completes the hst of the native born Ken- 
tuckians; we must now go back to Missouri and 
consider the adopted sons. The first adopted son 
of Kentucky to rule Missouri was Benjamin Howard. 

In 1807 Captain Meriwether Lewis succeeded 
General James Wilkinson as Governor of the terri- 
tory and, when he died in 1809, Benjamin Howard 
was appointed as his successor. Governor Howard 
was born in Virginia, but his father was one of the 
early settlers at Boonesboro, Ky. At an early age, 
Howard represented his county in the Kentucky Leg- 
islature and, in 1807, he was a member of the Lower 
House of Congress. He resigned in 1809 and enM- 
grated to Louisiana territory to accept the governor- 
ship. In 1812 the territory of Orleans became the 
State of Louisiana, and the territory of Louisiana 
became the territory of Missouri. Governor Howard 
was continued in office and he thus became the first 
territorial Governor of Missouri. He served until 
1813, dying in St. Louis, September 18, 1814. 

William Clark, second territorial Governor of 
Missouri, was born in Virginia in 1770, the brother 
of General George Rogers Clark. At the age of 
fourteen years, William Clark became a citizen of 
Kentucky, settling at the Falls of the Ohio, now 
Louisville. He became a noted Indian fighter and 
soldier. In 1804 Clark removed to Missouri, and, 
in the early spring of that year, he joined Meriwether 
Lewis in the famous exploring expedition from St. 

36 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

Louis to the Columbia River. This epoch-making 
trip lasted two years and it was in a large measure 
successful because of Clark's knowledge of Indian 
life. President Madison appointed him Governor 
of Missouri territory in 1813, and he held the office 
seven years. In 1820 Missouri was admitted into 
the Union and, in the same year, Alexander McNair 
defeated Clark for Governor. Governor Clark died 
at St. Louis in 1838. 

The first and only territorial Governor of Illinois 
was Ninian Edwards, born in Maryland in 1775, but 
who removed to Kentucky when twenty years old. 
In this State Edwards studied law and was elected 
to the Legislature. He later held several judgeships, 
among them a seat on the Court of Appeals bench, 
being, in 1808, Chief Justice. In the following year 
he was appointed Governor of Illinois territory, and 
he served nine years, or until Illinois was admitted 
into the Union in 1818. He was at once elected as 
one of the first two United States Senators from 
Illinois. At the expiration of his senatorial term, 
Edwards was appointed minister to Mexico, but he 
was recalled. In 1826 he was elected the third State 
Governor of Illinois. Governor Edwards died at 
Belleville, LI., July 20, 1833. 

The fourth and last territorial Governor of In- 
diana was Thomas Posey, a Virginian-born, but a 
Kentuckian by a residence of some fifteen years. 
President Madison appointed Posey territorial Gov- 
ernor of Indiana, and he held the office until the 



37 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

territory was admitted into the Union in 1816. 
Governor Posey died in Illinois in 1818. 

Ratliff Boon, a native of Georgia, was the second 
State Governor of Indiana. When a boy. Boon emi- 
grated to Kentucky with his father, and in Danville 
he learned the gunsmith's trade. He spent twenty 
years of his life in Kentucky, married a Kentucky 
woman, and in 1809 he removed to Indiana. Ten 
years later. Boon was elected Lieutenant-Governor 
with Jonathan Jennings as Governor, and when 
Jennings resigned Boon filled his unexpired term of 
three months. Governor Boon afterwards served 
many years in Congress, dying in Missouri in 1844. 

Noah Noble was born in Virginia in 1794, but 
he was brought by his parents to Campbell county, 
Kentucky, when a babe in arms, and in that county 
he was reared and educated. A few months after 
he had reached his majority, he removed to Indiana. 
In 1831 Noble was elected Governor and he served 
six years. Governor Noble continued the internal 
improvements inaugurated by Governor Ray, but he 
was never able to obtain a united support from his 
subordinates, 

Allen Trimble, a native of Virginia, served as the 
eighth and tenth Governor of Ohio. Trimble was 
brought to Lexington, Ky., when he was but one 
year old. The next twenty years of his life was 
passed in Lexington and he then removed to Ohio. 
He was acting Governor of the State in 1822 and, 
four years later, he was elected Governor and re- 



38 



V' 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

elected in 1828. In 1832 Governor Trimble retired 
from active life and died in 1870. 

The third territorial Governor of Arkansas was 
John Pope, a native of Virginia, who came to Ken- 
tucky when a boy. In this State he studied law and 
opened an office in Lexington, In 1829 he was ap- 
pointed Governor of Arkansas territory and he 
served for six years. At the expiration of his term, 
Governor Pope returned to Kentucky, in which State 
he died July 12, 1845. 

Florida's second territorial Governor, Willliam P. 
Duval, quit Virginia for Kentucky at the age of 
fourteen years, finally finding his way to Bardstown, 
Ky., where he studied law and was admitted to the 
bar. Duval was soon elected to Congress from Ken- 
tucky — his bojish ambition. In 1822 he was ap- 
pointed Governor of Florida territory and he served 
eight years. Governor Duval was the (friend of 
Washington Irving and of James K. Paulding, both 
of whom wrote of him in their books. He died in 
Washington, D. C, in 1854. 

Iowa's second territorial Governor, John Cham- 
bers, was a native of New Jersey, but he removed 
to Mason county, Kentucky, at the age of thirteen 
years. Chambers was educated in Kentucky and he 
also studied law in this State. For many years he 
represented his Kentucky district in the Lower 
House of Congress. In 1841 Chambers was 
appointed Governor of Iowa territory and he served 
for five years. Upon the expiration of his term, 



39 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

Governor Chambers returned to this State and died 
at Paris, Ky., in 1852. 

The fourth territorial and first State Governor of 
Michigan, Stevens Thompson Mason, was born in 
Virginia in 1812. He was brought to Kentucky at 
an early age, and was reared and educated in this 
State. So, save for this accident of birth, Mason 
was a Kentuckian. At the age of nineteen years, 
he was appointed secretary of Michigan territory; 
and upon the death of Governor Porter, he became 
acting Governor of the territory and he served one 
year. In 1836 Mason was unanimously elected as 
the first State Governor. In 1840 he went to New 
York City to practice law, and he died there three 
years later. A monument to Mason's memory was 
erected in Detroit in the summer of 1908 and it was 
unveiled by his famous sister, Emily Virginia Mason, 
who has but recently joined the choir invisible. 

Mississippi's twenty-sixth Governor, James L. 
Alcorn, was a thorough-going Kentuckian. He was 
born in Illinois, but he came to Kentucky when a 
mere lad. In this State he was educated. For five 
years, Alcorn was sheriff of Livingston county, 
Kentucky, and in 1843 he was in the Kentucky Legis- 
lature. In the next year he removed to Mississippi 
with his Kentucky wife. Alcorn took a notable part 
in the Kentucky campaign during the Civil War. 
He was elected Governor in 1869, but soon resigned 
to take a seat in the United States Senate. Governor 
Alcorn was one of the founders of Alcorn College 



40 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

for Negroes; and in 1870 a Mississippi county was 
named for him. He died in 1894. 

One lone Kentuckian has found his way to New 
Mexico and has served the territory as Governor — 
David Meriwether, a Virginian-born, but a Ken- 
tuckian by adoption at the early age of three years. 
He was educated in Kentucky schools and was a 
member of the State Legislature thirteen times. 
He also represented Kentucky in the United States 
Senate for a few months. In 1853 Meriwether was 
appointed Governor of New Mexico. He spent the 
last years of his life as a Kentucky farmer, dying 
near Louisville in 1893. 

The second territorial Governor of Oregon, Joseph 
Lane, was a North Carohnian, who was transplanted 
upon Kentucky soil in infancy. Lane settled in 
Henderson county, which continued to be his home 
until 1816, when he removed to Indiana. His gal- 
lantry in the Mexican War won him the appoint- 
ment as Governor of Oregon in 1848. He was John 
C. Breckinridge's running mate for the Presidency 
in 1860. Governor Lane died in Oregon, in obscurity 
and poverty, April 19, 1881. 

Lane's successor, John P. Gaines, was born in 
Virginia in 1795, but he was brought in early youth 
to Boone county, Kentucky. After the War of 1812, 
in which he served, he was admitted to the bar of 
Walton, Ky., and he later represented Boone county 
in the Legislature for several terms. In 1850 Presi- 
dent Fillmore appointed Gaines Governor of Oregon. 
He was an able executive. He died in 1858. 

41 



Kentucky: Mother of Governms. 

The first and fourth territorial Governor of Wis- 
consin, Henry Dodge, was born in Indiana in 1782, 
but his father settled near Louisville, Ky., when 
Henry was but two years old. His boyhood was 
passed in this State. When a young man, he served 
in the War of 1812, and in 1827 removed to Wiscon- 
sin, where he became famous as an Indian fighter. 
He was appointed Governor of Wisconsin territory 
in 1836 and reappointed in 1845. Governor Dodge 
was elected to the United States Senate in 1848, and 
he served until 1857. He died in Burlington, Iowa, 
June 19, 1867. 



42 



The Sojourners 



Again we go to Missouri to begin with the 
sojourners. 

The first American to govern what is now the 
State of Missouri was General James Wilkinson. 
He was born in Maryland in 1757 and died in Mexico 
in 1825. He served in the American Revolution and 
came to Kentucky in 1784. Two years later, he 
founded the town of Frankfort, the present capital 
of Kentucky. In 1796 he became Commander-in- 
Chief of the United States Army. 

In 1804 Congress divided the land included in 
the Louisiana purchase into the territory of Orleans 
and the district of Louisiana, the district being at- 
tached to Indiana territory. Early in 1805 Louisiana 
district was separated from Indiana territory and 
called the territory of Louisiana. William C. C. 
Claiborne had been appointed Governor of the terri- 
tory of Orleans when it was created, and now that 
Louisiana district was a territory of the same class 
as Orleans, it devolved upon President Jefferson 
to appoint a Governor for the territory of Louisiana. 
So, in July, 1805, he named General Wilkinson as 
its first Governor, with his capitol at St. Louis. 
Governor Wilkinson served for thirteen months and 
his administration has written upon it, in large cap- 
itals, "Failure." The Sage of Monficello seems to 
have been the only famous American who had any 
faith whatsoever in Wilkinson — the man who would 
have gladly seen Kentucky allied with Spain. We 

43 



Kenftu^ky: Mother of Governors. 

almost forgive General Wilkinson everything when 
we remember that he founded the little city that 
nestles in the beautiful Kentucky hills, the home or 
quasi home of all great Kentuckians — Frankfort. 

I'he fifth State Governor of Missouri, Daniel 
Dunklin, was bom in South Carolina, but he emi- 
grated to Kentucky at the age of seventeen years. 
He lived three years in this State, when he removed 
to Missouri. Governor Dunklin is commonly called 
the father of the Missouri public school system. 

Ashbel P. Willard was a New York lawyer who 
took a horseback trip through Kentucky and liked 
the Bluegrass State so well that he quit the law for 
the school room, teaching for several years in this 
State. In 1844 Willard gave up teaching for politics. 
A fine speech in New Albany, Ind., caused the 
citizens to ask him to open a law office there. In 
1856 he was elected Governor of Indiana, the young- 
est man who ever held the office. Governor Willard 
died in 1860, some months before the expiration of 
his term. 

James M. Wells, Louisiana's seventeenth Gov- 
ernor, spent a part of his youth in Kentucky. In 
1864 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Louis- 
iana, and on the resignation of Governor Hahn 
Wells succeeded him in office. Later in the same year, 
he was renominated by the Democratic party and 
was elected. He was removed by General Sheridan 
shortly before the expiration of his term. 



44 



Those Educated in Kentucky 

For the fourth and last time, gentle reader, we 
journey to Missouri to begin with the school and 
college men. 

Robert M. Stewart, the twelfth chief executive 
of Missouri, was born in New York, but in boyhood 
he came to Kentucky, where he was reared, educated 
and admitted to the Louisville bar. He went to 
Missouri to practice, but he was soon in politics, 
and in 1857, after one of the hottest fights ever 
witnessed in Missouri, he was chosen Governor. 
Governor Stewart made a brilliant but eccentric 
executive. He died in St. Joseph, Mo., in 1871. 

Thomas Ford was born in Pennsylvania in 1800, 
but he early went to Illinois, and from there to 
Kentucky, where he was educated at Transylvania 
University. At the conclusion of his college career, 
he returned to Illinois and Governor Edwards 
appointed him State Attorney. In 1842 he defeated 
Duncan for the governorship of Illinois. Governor 
Ford wrote a "History of Illinois: 1818-1847," which 
is still the chief authority on that period of the 
State's history. He died in 1850 and, twenty-five 
years later, IlHnois erected a handsome monument 
to his memory. 

William H. Bissell, tenth Governor of Illinois, 
was born in New York in 1811, but he came to 
Kentucky when a young man to study law at the 
famous old Transylvania University. He went to 
Illinois upon graduation and later served in the 

45 



KentUcly: Mother of Goccniors. 

Mexican War. Bissell was elected Governor of 
Illinois in 1857, but he was embarrassed by a Legis- 
lature that was opposed to him politically. Governor 
Bissell died in 1860. 

The eighth Governor of Indiana, James Whit- 
comb, was a native of Vermont. Without a teacher, 
he prepared himself for Transylvania University, 
from which institution he was graduated in 1819. 
He immediately began the study of law, and he was 
admitted to the famous Lexington, Ky., bar in 1822. 
About two years later, Whitcomb removed to In- 
diana. In 1843 he was elected Governor on the 
Democratic ticket and re-elected three years later. 
Before the close of his second term, Whitcomb was 
elected to the United States Senate, where he con- 
tinued until his death, October 4, 1852. 

Governor Whitcomb's Lieutenant-Governor, and 
the man who succeeded him as Governor when he 
went to the Senate, was Paris C. Duming, a North 
Carolinian-born, who came to Kentucky with his 
widowed mother when a young man. Duming lived 
in Kentucky only a short time, when he went to 
Indiana, but he returned to this State to study medi- 
cine in Louisville. He afterward deserted medicine 
for law. Governor Duming died in 1884. 

Wilson Shannon, a native of Ohio, and a graduate 
of Transylvania University, was the fourteenth and 
eighteenth Governor of Ohio. He was first elected 
Governor in 1838 and re-elected in 1842. In 1855 
President Pierce appointed him territorial Governor 



46 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

of Kansas and he served about one year. Governor 
Shannon died at Lawrence, Kan., in 1877. 

Alabama's twenty-first Governor, George S. 
Houston, was a native of Tennessee, but he studied 
law in Harrodsburg, Ky., and he was admitted to 
the bar there in 1831. He soon removed to Alabama 
and was elected Governor in 1874. Governor Hous- 
ton died in 1879. 

John S. Roane, fourth State Governor of Ar- 
kansas, was born in Tennessee, but he was educated 
at Cumberland College, Princeton, Ky. Roane 
served as Governor of Arkansas from 1849 to 1852. 

Augustus Hill Garland, Arkansas' eleventh Gov- 
ernor, was born in Tennessee in 1832, but when less 
than a year old his parents settled in Arkansas. 
He was sent to Kentucky to school, receiving his 
entire academic training at St. Mary's College, 
Lebanon, and St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, both 
famous Roman Catholic institutions. Garland began 
the study of law in Bardstown, but he returned to 
Arkansas to practice. He was elected Governor of 
the State in 1847, and he succeeded in placing its 
financial affairs on a firm basis. He went to the 
United States Senate in 1877, and was re-elected, 
serving until 1885, when he became President Cleve- 
land's Attorney-General. He died in Washington 
in 1899. 

Charles Clark, twenty-second Governor of Mis- 
sissippi, was born in Ohio in 1811, and was gradu- 
ated from the famous old Kentucky Methodist insti- 
tution, now no longer in existence, Augusta College. 

47 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

He emigrated to Mississippi in 1831. Elected Gov- 
ernor of the State in 1863, he served throughout 
the remainder of the war. Governor Clark did all 
in his power to aid the Southern soldier. He died 
in 1877. 

The present Governor of Mississippi, Edmund 
F. Noel, was educated in Louisville, Ky., at the dis- 
trict schools, and then spent three years at the Louis- 
ville High School. In 1875 and 1876 he studied law 
under his uncle, the late Major D. W. Sanders, the 
well-known Louisville lawyer. In 1877 Noel left 
Kentucky and began the practice of law at Lexing- 
ton, Miss., which is his present home. He was 
elected Governor of Mississippi in 1907 for the term 
expiring in 1912. 

The first, fourth and fifth State Governor of 
Montana was Joseph Kemp Toole, a native of Savan- 
nah, Mo., who came to Kentucky when about sixteen 
years of age. He entered the old Western Military 
Institute, then located at New Castle, Henry county, 
Kentucky. Toole studied there for two years, or 
from 1867 to 1869. In 1870 he settled in Montana 
and, of course, he studied law. He was a member 
of the State Constitutional Convention of 1889, and 
shortly thereafter he was elected as the first State 
Governor. In 1900 he was again elected Governor 
and re-elected in 1904, but, before the expiration 
of his term, he resigned, being succeeded by Governor 
Norris. 

A Tennesseean, James W. Throckmorton, who 
came to Kentucky when he was nineteen years of 

48 



Kentucky: Mother of Governors. 

£Lge to study medicine, was the eleventh Governor 
of the Lone Star State. Throckmorton studied under 
his uncle, Dr. J. E. Throckmorton, at Princeton, 
Ky., for several years. After having completed his 
studies, he removed to Texas, where he practiced 
medicine but a few years, when he gave it up for 
law. In 1866 he was elected Governor of Texas, but 
he had hardly served a year when he was ousted 
by General Sheridan. 



49 



Blazon Their Names in Bronze? 

Parenthetically and before this long, monotonous 
list is closed, suffer a suggestion: This is the day 
of memorials; Kentucky has, without doubt, paid 
less attention to monuments and memorials of any 
kind for her famous sons and daughters than has 
any other State. Now, why not mount in the walls 
of her magnificent new capitol a long bronze tablet 
blazoned with the names of Kentuckians who have 
governed other States and territories, setting oppo- 
site their names the Commonwealths they served 
with the dates of their terms? This idea was born 
as the writer stood in the rotunda of the University 
of Virginia and read the names of the University's 
sons killed in battle. The two tablets there attract 
as much attention as Zolnay's *Toe." But this is 
merely an aside for which we apologize and hasten. 

There can be but one major conclusion concern- 
ing the Kentuckians who have governed other 
States; they, broadly speaking, accepted Horace 
Greely's advice — "Go West, young man; go 
V. est." Except in recent years, Kentuckians, as a 
rule, have eschewed the East — no son of this State 
has yet been elected Governor of any of the New 
England or Middle States ; they have seldom steered 
southward — no Kentuckian has ever been chosen, 
executive of Georgia, North or South Carolina or 
West Virginia. And, to conclude, hitherto no Ken- 
tuckian has occupied the gubernatorial chair of 
Oklahoma, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii, North or 
South Dakota, Nevada, Porto Rico, Washington or 
California. 

50 



HERE ends Kentucky: Mother 
of Governors, as written by 
John Wilson Townsend. Of this 
edition three hundred copies have 
been printed and published at the 
shop of The Kentucky State Jour- 
nal Company, Frankfort, Kentucky, 
during the month of September, 
nineteen hundred and ten; this 
being number 



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